First Snow
by KenSan1990
Summary: Snow. Pretty. I smile. What one experience makes for a child who is new to the word 'snow'. AU Hiko's P.O.V.


A/N: short thing. Have fun.

**First Snow**

Time flies so fast that it seems it's no longer than a second that I blink my eyes then there is snow on my eyelashes. Autumn is the most endearing time of year, in my view. And when it leaves, it seems to leave something behind.

I never really liked the cold; not that I can't stand it. It seems to dapple over so quickly and take the life out of the city below me. The towering metropolis that eats away at my peace and quiet. The mountain, to whose refuge I have taken for many a year. The sounds of temple bells ring in my ears, and in winter most of all.

I sit outside my small hut and look up into the gray sky that seems to harden as the temperature drops. My cheeks get cold. And the cold is only accompanied by the quiet in which it stretches. I reach into the hut, feel the warmth from my heater, and pull out a blanket.

I sit in on the frozen ground waiting for the sky to bring down the first spawn of winter. This takes time, but for the last ten years I haven't missed it. You could say I was bored.

I stretch out my legs. No one is coming down the way; no one but the squirrels who still scamper from the cold. The birds have long since left to find a warmer place. I pull out my sake' and sip carefully. I make sure it doesn't touch the cold air. That would be a waste.

"Oi! This isn't funny!" I hear in the distance. I look down through the trees where there is little showing of the tall buildings, once heavily rebuilt after World War III. The voice is that of a child, no older than ten. "Oi!"

My head lowers. I drink more of the lukewarm sake', quickly cap it, and then set it in my lap to keep it warm. The boy continues to yell over even the loudest car horn. He is very lost, and as I can tell, very alone. I smirk.

He's close enough to me that he can feel the heat. There is something about the heat that draws visitors in. I've had many lost. They shiver worse because it's colder up here. The snow comes sooner as well.

I want to yell back to the boy; he's loud and obnoxious and about to cry by the sound of his voice. I look to the sky again before sinking my chin into my jacket. My hands grip the warm sake'. It gets colder by the second.

As the boy continues to yell, I start to get the courage to yell back. As I do, there is a slight scream from him. I rise up and start over, but I feel drawn back. This is not my problem. Still yet, I grab my sword and hide the sake' in the home where it will stay warm.

Along the path my feet kill the frosted over plants. My hair breaks skin on my face. Everything got colder after the war. I let out a hard breath and touch my cheek. It's warm with blood. I've been out too long, and so has this boy.

Along the path I stop and shudder. The wind blew stiffly. My eyes closed to slats to get a better look at the scene. There lays a boy with a stick loosely in his hand. He slipped on ice. It doesn't surprise me. He's young. His cheeks get pale quickly. I take him up and bundle him in the blanket. There's no one else around. He stirs.

Around the time I get to the get to the hut, he's fully awake and whining. I can't blame him too much. It was hard when my master brought me up here too. I nearly lost my hands in the cold.

"Hello." He mutters. My eyes soften a little. I sit outside the hut with him and keep him held in the blanket.

"Cold?" I ask. He nods and shoves into my jacket.

"My leg hurts," he says.

"You fell." He shoves my chest. I pull up the hood on my coat to stop the wind from snapping at my hair. He folds further into the blanket. "You're very careless, wandering like that."

"I know."

"Someone could hurt you."

He leans into my chest. I pretend not to care, but we both need the warmth. Not only does he need it, it seems he's been out too long. "Go in. I'll be in soon."

"Shishou…"

"You heard me."

He scurries in. I squat down and cross my arms. I look to the sky. My eyes squint. "Deshi?"

"Hai?"

"Come here."

He peeks his head out the door. He's already undressed and holding my sake' against his body. It's the bottle I sent him out for. It's still warm from being under the folds of his clothes.

"You don't like it here do you?" I ask.

"It's very cold."

"I know. Look," I said pointing the sky. He's been here a year. Before he'd lived south in a warm place; just like I had.

I held out my hand. It's cold enough to hold the flake for a moment. More start coming down. I turn back to the boy. He's staring into the sky wide eyed.

"Shishou…?"

"It's called snow."

"It's pretty."

He comes out, blanket in hand. I take the sake' from him and place it back inside. He waits as long as his small body can take the cold. He's a red blob rushing back in. He peeks out of the house and stares at the sky.

"Something about snow," I said to him. "Makes being in the cold worthwhile doesn't it?"

"I guess," he answered. I was amused; he was amazed. I push him inside saying he couldn't be out much longer. I put the sake' near the heater and make sure all the cracks in the place are sealed. Kenshin peeks from the window. The snow was coming down harder.

He lies down beside the window, shivering. I kneel to him. I knew he didn't understand 'cold' and 'snow' just yet. I hadn't either. After the war, the climate had this odd shift. You either lived in a warm place or cold place, there was no in between.

I give him another blanket and stay in close vicinity of his body. "Shishou?"

"Yeah?"

"Snow?"

"Yeah."

I push him close to me. He crawls into my lap and looks up through the blinds. I can't help but look too.

Snow. Pretty. I smile.

A/N: Drabble…I'm bored. Tell me what you think. KenSan out!


End file.
